Over the past few days we have been screening our film in various different locations.

The first place that we showed the film was in Barmoi clinic, where we shot some of the film. As soon as word got around that we had turned up with a TV and were going to show a free film, the room quickly filled up with the people from the community. Along with some pregnant women who were at the clinic anyway and a gaggle of scraggly children, men and women who had been working on their farms also took a break to come and see what was going on. It was incredible how many people turned We counted over 60 people in all, which just showed us what magnetic power film has to gather people together. 

After the screening at the clinic, we shifted the cinema to the village of Bantomi. At this session the film was shown at a porch of an African mud hut with again around 60 villagers sitting and standing in a a half circle to watch the action. Many of the scenes were also shot in Bantomi. 

It was a real joy to see how much pleasure we could bring to so many people within such a short space of time. Some of the people who were in the film were also watching and couldn't quite believe it when they saw themselves on the screen. 

Of course it is important that the film has not only entertainment value but also that it can be used to communicate a message. Therefore we took one of the nurses from the hospital in Kambia with us for the screenings. She facilitated a discussion of the film after it was shown. In the future, it is the idea that this should be the package offered to the communities, so that they will get both the film and an opportunity to debate maternal health issues with relevant medical staff. 

The next step is to make sure that the film is taken out to the clinics once we have left and we are currently putting measures in place to do this.

For Alice and Peter's Weblog, see http://alicepeter.blogspot.com